Andy,
That is exactly what I have been saying - It can be done but as you stated there are the "effects of time and drying" that will definitely pose a problem. After doing some minor research into drum shell making, there are not more than a hand full of companies that are dong this type of drum shell manufacturing and some of those have closed up shop. I would just hate to see David get all charged up about something that may not be all it's "cracked" up to be. If he believes there is a definite calling for these ~ than I can see why he is looking into this ~ but they will have to have some pretty deep pockets! I would be more than happy to help David but the time and cost may be to high. I can understand the type of sound he is trying to get ~ I was a musician, part time , and do agree with him on the different tones you can get from how an instrument is made ~ I really can! I have been keeping my eye open for some logs as we had a huge ice storm here ,October of last year that made the headlines all over the country- there are the remnants and results from that storm that are going to the curb, ie - people cutting down damaged trees and the like - so I am sure I will find them. For my own experience I will turn a set out for him and see what the final outcome is.
The problem I see is the cracking-absolutely. It may be good on the final turn , but after a few weeks - what will be the verdict? My only thought is keeping it wet , but then I was thinking this works well to form/bend wood to a desired shape, bending the wood grain vertically, but it is not being bent- it is only being turned.
I had a frieze capital that I had to make over a very large eye shaped shower unit.I hand carved a vine & leaf (depression carve) into the frieze plate from one end to the other. the diameter of the plate (maple) was 1/2" thick 4" in height and 5' long and it had to curve elliptically to an eye lid shape for the top , I soaked it in extremely hot water for 20 min , pulled it out, and clamped it to my form, I let it dry for 24 hrs, the next day I took it of the form and the shape was permanent and there were no problems to be had. I did my sanding and the finish work on it and it came out exactly as I had expected, better than I anticipated.
But we are talking about not reshaping by water, steam and bending - rather shaping through turning. The grain on that frieze plate was bent parallel with the grain of the wood , my point is , had I shaped that plate ( if I could ever find a piece that large) with the grain vertical (perpendicular) 1st it would have not held it's shape ` grain in the wrong direction, 2nd- it would have bent a lot easier but the possibility of having a grain separation (crack) is almost 100% . 3rd ~ it may have broken when I tried to bend it to begin with seeing as all those grains turned into possible separating dividers.
Am I wrong , if the wood is wet (live) when it is being turned the wood shrinks from drying and hence ~ minor stress cracks, and possibly a blow out. Would it not depend on the species being turned- something with a very tight grain structure so cracking would not be such a high probability?
Brian